The Delaware Center for Educational Technology and the Delaware Department of Education have submitted the Delaware Virtual School Implementation Plan to the Administration and Legislature with the recommendation to create and implement the Delaware Virtual School beginning in the 2008-09 school year. Unfortunately, the current finanacial situation prevented any additional funds needed to fully implement the Delaware Virtual School.

The Implementation Plan recommended conducting a Delaware Virtual School Pilot Program beginning in January 2008. An initial report was generated concerning the Pilot Program in August 2008. Information made available to district and school personnel who were involved in the Pilot Program can be found by clicking here.

Delaware Virtual School Pilot Program
Continuation of Pilot Program for 2008-2009

The Delaware Department of Education / Delaware Center for Educational Technology will continue the Pilot Program of the Delaware Virtual School for the 2008-2009 school year. The Pilot Program will operate very similar to the initial Pilot Program. Online courses will address high school student needs with the main intent being develop and implement the procedures for efficiently working with the high schools in selecting and enrolling students who wish to take online courses. Lessons learned from the initial Pilot Program have been incorporated into the procedures for the 2008-2009 school year.

Memorandum of Understanding
In the initial pilot, a Memorandum of Understanding was only required from the district. In the 2008-2009 Pilot Program, a Memorandum of Understanding is being required of the distrist AND from each participating school. The School MOU also requires "a statement that addresses exactly how you, at the school level, will support the students that are taking online courses through the Delaware Virtual School to ensure their success." This is a result of a "lesson learned" from the initial pilot.

Course Catalog for the 2008-2009 Delaware Virtual School Pilot Program
Algebra I (1 credit)
Pre-Calculus (1 credit)
Spanish I (1 credit)
Spanish II (1 credit)
Physical Education (1/2 credit)
American Government (1/2 credit)

Online Course Providers
The online courses, more specifically seats in online courses, are provided by Florida Virtual School and Apex Learning. With both course providers, students work at their own pace. The main difference is the enrollment timeframe and calendar.

Apex Learning enrolls students by semester for 16 weeks using the traditional calendar. When a student successfully completes the first semester, the student will be enrolled in the second semester. If a student completes the work in 12 weeks, the student will need to wait until the next semester starts to begin the second semester.

Florida Virtual School enrolls students for the full course so when the student finishes the first semester, the student immediately starts the second semester. The Florida Virtual model works well for a block schedule when a student wants to complete an entire year course in one semester. Although Florida Virtual gives 26 weeks to complete a half credit course and 52 weeks to complete a one credit course, the student should complete each semester within 14-18 weeks. 

Online Course Credit Allocations per School
For the 2008-2009 school year, schools are allocated either 6 or 8 credits based on the size of the school. Credits does not mean students. A school with 6 credits could enroll 12 students in half credit courses giving the total of 6 credits.

Registering Students
As Site Coordinators / Guidance Counselors discuss the online course opportunity with students, they will use the newly developed Commitment Agreement. The Agreement lays out for the students (and parent/guardian) “what they are getting into!” The Commitment Agreement will need to be completed and signed by the student and the parent/guardian. This is a result of a "lesson learned" from the initial pilot.

To complete the registration once the student has the Commitment Agreement completed and signed, the student information will be entered into the registration spreadsheet. The spreadsheet will be submitted to the Delaware Virtual School as an attachment to Wayne Hartschuh at whartschuh@doe.k12.de.us and the Commitment Agreements will be faxed to 302 739-1775.

Timeline
The following table gives registration deadlines. Deadlines to submit the registration spreadsheet and Commitment Agreements are on Mondays, September 15, 22, and 29. All registration requests MUST BE RECEIVED by Monday, September 29.

This means students will begin courses on the following Mondays: September 22, September 29, and October 6. There needs to be a one week lead time to get the spreadsheet and Commitment Agreements submitted to the Delaware Virtual School, the registration prepared and submitted to the appropriate provider (Apex Learning / Florida Virtual), the provider officially enrolling the student, and the provider contacting the student with logon information. 

Drop Period
The Delaware Virtual School is implementing a formal drop period this year (another "lesson learned"). Students will be given two weeks to “test drive” the online course. If at the end of the two week period, the student decides “this isn’t for me” (for whatever reason), the student can drop the course. Once the student gets past the initial two weeks period and decide “I can do this”, the state will pay for the cost of the online course and the expectation is that since the student feels he/she can be successful, then he/she is going to put his/her best effort into the course to successfully complete the course within the timeframe of the course. The Delaware Virtual School will need to be notified by the Site Coordinator of the student’s decision no later than the Monday, two weeks after the course start.

Monitoring Student Progress
Each provider has a different way for Site Coordinators to monitor student progress. Apex Learning has an online system that allows the Site Coordinator (mentor) to monitor student progress and review course material. Arrangements will be made for an online training session on the use of the system for all Site Coordinators with students enrolled in Apex courses. The Florida Virtual School sends a progress report (spreadsheet) every two weeks showing student progress. That spreadsheet will be forwarded to all Site Coordinators with students enrolled in Florida Virtual courses.

Site Coordinator Reference Manual [DRAFT]
The Delaware Virtual School is developing a Site Coordinator Reference Manual. The development of the manual has just started and is a work in progress. The Delaware Virtual School is requesting recommendations on what should be included in the manual from the Site Coordinators.

Contact Information for the Delaware Virtual School

Dr. Wayne Hartschuh
Executive Director
Delaware Center for Educational Technology
35 Commerce Way
Dover, DE 19904
302 857-3305
Fax: 302 739-1775
whartschuh@doe.k12.de.us